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REMOTE
SENSING INSTITUTE
Strategic
Plan Outline--February 2000
Introduction
and Purpose
RSI
is an institute aimed at facilitating and promoting research and
education in remote sensing and related areas by bringing together
individuals and groups separated by departmental and/or college
boundaries. Remote Sensing comprises not just instrumentation or
measurement tools, but represents a perspective that employs a broad
morphology of disciplines and demands interdisciplinary breadth. For
example, current members collaborate on projects spanning imaging
science, atmospheric science, data/signal processing, data
visualization and remote sensing instrumentation. These are typically
applied to a specific problem in earth system science, ecosystem
studies, limnology/oceanography, global change, and a host of other
areas. At least nine different departments currently have faculty
members participating in RSI.
Our
goals are to work by consensus to promote remote sensing and related
topics on the MTU campus through (1) Interdisciplinary coursework and
programs, (2) Group funding efforts for equipment and research, (3)
Interdisciplinary seminars and short courses, and (4) Development of
a campus culture that actively supports transdisciplinary activities.
RSI
incentive funds will be used to support the above. An international
search for the first permanent director of RSI is planned for the
2000-2001 academic year.
SWOT
Analysis
Strengths
--outstanding
faculty from many MTU departments and colleges
--unusually
broad group in remote sensing. Most interdisciplinary groups on other
campuses do not fill all parts of the field the way we do.
--very
productive research output and strong funding records
--good
record of placement of graduates in remote sensing
--very
strong web of national research connections
--overall
strong computer network, hardware and software resources
--outstanding
field environmental location
--incentive
fund support system from university that does not diminish incentive
fund support of depts or colleges
Weaknesses
--overall
coordination of the group is ad hoc at present, lack of tradition of
working together at MTU across such trans-disciplinary distances
poses various challenges
--small
numbers of RSI faculty in any given department requires special
communication strategies
--imperfect
record of avoiding conflict with departments
--institutes
have traditionally had poorly-defined image across campus
--weak
minority recruiting linkages
--the
informality of our approach is something new and could potentially
destroy any effective momentum
Threats
--nationwide
competition for best graduate students is difficult
Opportunities
--summer
workshop site with field and computer facilities is unparalled
--many
issues/problems related to interdisciplinary work can be solved here,
helping others
--university
needs interdisciplinary research advocates
--creative
graduate degree options are possible
--support
of advanced facility development is strong, both by funding agencies
and industry
--great
international opportunities, with global focus
--the
definition of a model to incorporate research faculty into campus
community is needed everywhere
Specific
Goals
1.
Search for and hire a Director for the Institute in academic year
2000-2001, to provide leadership for our activities. This senior
researcher will occupy a position in a department but the search will
be broad, and the fit between the individual and a particular
department will be done after the best candidate from a very broad
pool is identified.
2.
Development of undergraduate Minor, with goal of gaining excellent
graduate student pool for remote sensing graduate work. We aim for 50
students/year within 5 years, and we will recruit 20 new graduate
students each year from this pool. Additional benefit is the
collaborative work on courses and integration of courses.
3.
RSI backed submissions of equipment/software and group research
projects will be pushed. We expect to respond to initiatives from
NASA, NSF, NOAA and DOE as appropriate.
4.
Use of MTU campus as a short course/seminar base with focus on remote
sensing and related studies will be pursued. We hope for one new
major short course or seminar by summer of 2001.
5.
RSI will try to provide leadership/advocacy for development of
interdisciplinary graduate programs. Interdisciplinary graduate
programs are one way to attract excellent students and also to help
MTU's goal of Carnegie I status. RSI already supports several
graduate degree programs and can possibly support the development of
others.
6.
We will help provide leadership for the consideration of issues
relating to research faculty, who offer the university an opportunity
of increasing its research stature and productivity.
7.
We will explore and propose strategies for supporting more
interdepartmental classwork.
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